Blog

Taking a pest control company from good to great is a matter of investment and training. Bringing in new technology and getting the chemicals that people feel comfortable with is just the beginning. Making sure that your technicians are fully trained, certified, and ready for compliance checks is one of the responsibilities of a pest management company owner.

Arranging for training can be a logistical headache for a business owner. It’s hard to take the team out of the field in order to facilitate a day of training. Some pest control business owners send their technicians to individual training sessions on weekends in order to minimize downtime. However, this reduces the long term effectiveness of the training and the opportunity for group dynamics to build and develop among the team members is eliminated.

The smart pest control owners know that partnering with a professional training company is the way to grow their business. Getting their technicians training in small groups which are well coordinated is the better way to schedule and maximize the time out of the field. Man hours are in fact worth money, and there is no arguing that fact. Business decisions are key to success, and this is one that’s easy.

A solid pest management training program will help keep technicians safe on the job, lowering workman’s comp claims and maintaining client safety. Customer satisfaction will be emphasized, increasing customer retention. Those owners who invest in the development of their employees see people stay longer with greater job satisfaction and satisfied employees are a great company advertisement.

The best way to structure this type of training is to separate your technicians into groups of three. Those groups of three will stay together, and will rotate through a yearlong series of certification and professional education courses. This human resources investment should be publicized and held out to the employees and customers as a real investment in the future of the company.

The ever popular American Cockroach is sure to survive the direst environmental catastrophes. It was actually introduced from Africa during trans-oceanic shipping and has adapted very well to the North American continent. While their natural homeland is warm, the cooler North American weather is acceptable to them because they shelter inside human occupied spaces like homes and offices.

Their reddish-brown glossy carapace is covered by wings of the same color. Darker brown marks appear at the center of the shoulders. Cockroaches fly very well, but do not often travel in this manner. Mostly they are seen running when they are foraging for food. They eat the same things humans do, and also what pets eat. They prefer moist foods and because of this are definite pests in the residential and commercial areas that humans occupy.

Mother cockroaches only lay about 12 eggs at a time, carrying the eggs on their backs and then unloading in a dark and quiet area where they can hatch in peace. Cockroach babies can take up to a year to mature.

Cockroaches are thought to be a signal that a home is dirty or in disrepair, but the truth is that cockroaches can live anywhere humans do. They like the same climate as the same food.

Pelicinid Wasp

The long tail of the female wasp appears very threatening, but it is not a stinger. It is instead used to deposit eggs during breeding.

Adult wasps eat nectar from plants and wood, and they are often seen on low growing shrubs. These insects do sting humans, but are not aggressive unless they feel they are threatened.

Bald Faced Hornet

Black and white and related to yellow jackets, these hornets eat flies and other yellow jackets.

They are also eaters of nectar and wood. While they are not aggressive at all toward humans, if they feel threatened, they will sting repeatedly and their nests can contain one to four hundred individual hornets.